Touchstone's Editors and Allies on News and Events of the Day

April 26, 2011

"I Will Not Believe"

Thomas's refusal to believe, initially, that Jesus has been raised from the dead, was where the Gospel reading for this past Sunday's "Agape Vespers" ended. Odd. After the services of Pascha in the Orthodox Church, the congregation regathers in the late afternoon on Easter Sunday to hear the closing words of the Gospel, "I will not believe"--and not just once, but over and over again in as many languages as possible (depending on the languages that can be read in the parish). On at least one occasion we heard John 20:19-25 read more than twenty times in twenty languages (including Sign Language), all ending, "I will not believe." This multiplication of languages perhaps can be seen as a foreshadowing of the close of the Easter Season right at the beginning, the close being, of course, Pentecost, with its gift of tongues. But it also stands for the next step in the Gospel proclamation to all nations: every hinges, as Paul wrote, on whether Jesus was raised or not. This matter of the Resurrection, following the unfolding path of the Great Commission, is put before all nations over time. "Christ is risen" is the essence of the Gospel in history, the culmination of His Incarnation, Passion and Death on the Cross, the opening of heaven to otherwise fallen Man. (Of course, the Ascension should not be forgotten!)